The invention concerns a ring-shaped adapter for use in connection with ostomy equipment, the proximal side of said adapter having a convex face which is provided with adhesive by means of which the adapter can be adhered to the skin of a user, a collection bag or a coupling part therefor being adhered to the distal side of said adapter in use.
Below an ostomy patient or an ostomist denotes a person having a colostomy, an ileostomy or a urostomy. In such persons the colon, the ileum or the ureter has been exposed surgically such that the waste products of the body, which are conveyed through these organs, are discharged through an artificial opening and are collected in a collection bag, which is ordinarily adhered to the skin by means of an adhesive plate with an opening surrounding the stoma.
It is frequently seen in ostomy patients that the closest surroundings of the stoma, at a distance of 1-2 cm, are recessed or are positioned in a crater or a cavity with respect to the rest of the skin surface that surrounds the stoma. For such patients it is expedient to use an ostomy appliance where the adhesive surface around its opening for receiving the stoma has a part which protrudes toward the user with a view to enabling the adhesive face of the ostomy equipment to engage and adhere to the skin everywhere in the crater or the cavity. In particular, it is important that the ostomy equipment adheres to the skin as closely to the stoma as possible, and this location is most frequently the one lying deepest. The shape of the forwardly protruding part of the adhesive face may e.g. be domed or conical, and such appliances are known under the designation convex appliances. Throughout the specification the term convex has this broad meaning irrespective of the actual embodiment.
The invention concerns a convex adapter where the proximal side (the side facing toward the patient) has a convex face, and where an ordinary ostomy bag is adhered to the distal side of the adapter (the side facing away from the patient).
EP 416 397 discloses an adapter of the present type which is provided with a layer of adhesive protruding beyond the outer periphery of the ring-shaped, convex member, the adhesive being exposed on the distal side of the adapter so that when coupled with the adhesive plate of the ostomy equipment it will be in direct contact with the adhesive of this plate. The adhesive of the adapter and the adhesive of the ostomy equipment must be compatible here, which puts a limit to the selection of adhesives. Furthermore, an adapter adhered to ostomy equipment cannot be separated later, which makes it impossible to use the adapter for several collection bags.
EP 317 326 describes a convex adapter where a rigid ring on its entire convex side carries an intermediate ring of soft thermoplastic foam adhered to the rigid ring. The intermediate ring carries a layer of adhesive for mounting the adapter on the skin of a user. The foam ring is a cost-increasing component, and attachment by adhesion to the rigid ring makes the manufacturing process more expensive. Such an adapter requires the use of collection bags having a skin-friendly adhesive which is expensive.